Ohio Petroleum Council will be guided by aide of Rep. Tiberi

Chris Zeigler starts March 11 as exec director; post
was vacated in December

The Ohio Petroleum Council has a new executive director — or at least it will on March 11, when Chris Zeigler steps into the open position.
Mr. Zeigler, currently chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, a Republican from suburban Columbus, said he will take over the Ohio Petroleum Council as its new chief next month. March 8 will be Mr. Zeigler's last day working for the congressman, ending a stint of 19 years of working with Mr. Tiberi that predates the congressman's election in 2001.
He will succeed former Ohio Petroleum Council executive director Terry Fleming, who abruptly resigned in December after heading the council for more than 25 years. No reason was given for Mr. Fleming's departure.
The council is the state arm of the national American Petroleum Institute; that group's regional manager, John Kerekes, said in December that finding a replacement for Mr. Fleming was an urgent matter.
Mr. Zeigler said he was not seeking the job, but was contacted last month by a search firm for the Ohio Petroleum Council.
“I wasn't expecting it, I wasn't looking for it, but I was very interested in it after I spoke to them,” Mr. Zeigler said. “It's a top-notch organization and it's a position that doesn't come up very often. Since 2005, I've been commuting back and forth from D.C. My family is here in Ohio, and I'll get to be closer to them.”
Mr. Zeigler admittedly does not have experience in the oil and gas industry, but he has a lot of political experience that could come in handy in his new job.
“Yeah, that's what I understand,” Mr. Zeigler said.
For one, he'll likely be addressing Gov. John Kasich's proposed hike in severance taxes for oil and gas produced by Ohio's shale wells — though only after a well has been in production for a year and its volumes have dropped dramatically from the well's initial production.
His soon-to-be-former boss, Rep. Tiberi, has been a friend of Gov. Kasich and of the oil and gas industry.
Among his pro-industry actions, Rep. Tiberi has voted in favor of increased offshore drilling, in favor of barring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases, and against both limits on greenhouse gases and tax incentives for cleaner renewable energy.